In 2010, Taiji, a sleepy fishing town in Japan, suddenly found itself in the worldwide media spotlight. The Cove, a documentary denouncing the town’s longstanding whale and dolphin hunting traditions, won an Academy Award and almost overnight, Taiji became the go-to destination and battleground for activists from around the world.
Can a proud 400-year-old whaling tradition survive a tsunami of modern animal-rights activism and colliding forces of globalism vs. localism?
A Whale of a Time reveals the complex story behind the ongoing debate. Told through a wide range of characters including local fishermen, international activists and anAmerican journalist (and long time Japanese resident), this powerful documentary unearths a deep divide in eastern and western thought about nature and wildlife and cultural sensitivity in the face of global activism.
A Whale of a Time will open theatrically in New York on Friday, August 17 (The Quad) and Los Angeles on Friday, August 24 (Laemmle Music Hall) with a nationwide release to follow.
In 2008, Filmmaker Megumi Sasaki directed and produced her first feature-length documentary Herb & Dorothy, about legendary New York art collectors Herb and Dorothy Vogel. The film went on to win top honors at many international film festivals and was released theatrically nationwide and as a part of PBS’s Independent Lens series. In 2013, Megumi completed the highly anticipated follow-up Herb & Dorothy 50X50, focusing on the next (and final) chapter in the lives of the beloved couple. The film had a nationwide theatrical release and continues to screen in theaters, museums and art fairs around the globe.
A Whale of a Time is her third feature length and had its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea and has won awards in many other festivals worldwide. In August 2017, Sasaki published her first book with the same title of the film in Japanese, OKUJIRASAMA depicting behind the scenes of the film’s production and the in-depth historical and religious background information of the whaling controversy that won the Science Journalist Award in 2018.Terry P.
VIMOOZ is for lovers of independent films + foreign film + documentary + film festivals. We love championing the little films.
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Documentary A WHALE OF A TALE on Controversy Surrounding Whaling Sets Release Date
In 2010, Taiji, a sleepy fishing town in Japan, suddenly found itself in the worldwide media spotlight. The Cove, a documentary denouncing the town’s longstanding whale and dolphin hunting traditions, won an Academy Award and almost overnight, Taiji became the go-to destination and battleground for activists from around the world.
Can a proud 400-year-old whaling tradition survive a tsunami of modern animal-rights activism and colliding forces of globalism vs. localism?
A Whale of a Time reveals the complex story behind the ongoing debate. Told through a wide range of characters including local fishermen, international activists and anAmerican journalist (and long time Japanese resident), this powerful documentary unearths a deep divide in eastern and western thought about nature and wildlife and cultural sensitivity in the face of global activism.
A Whale of a Time will open theatrically in New York on Friday, August 17 (The Quad) and Los Angeles on Friday, August 24 (Laemmle Music Hall) with a nationwide release to follow.
In 2008, Filmmaker Megumi Sasaki directed and produced her first feature-length documentary Herb & Dorothy, about legendary New York art collectors Herb and Dorothy Vogel. The film went on to win top honors at many international film festivals and was released theatrically nationwide and as a part of PBS’s Independent Lens series. In 2013, Megumi completed the highly anticipated follow-up Herb & Dorothy 50X50, focusing on the next (and final) chapter in the lives of the beloved couple. The film had a nationwide theatrical release and continues to screen in theaters, museums and art fairs around the globe.
A Whale of a Time is her third feature length and had its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea and has won awards in many other festivals worldwide. In August 2017, Sasaki published her first book with the same title of the film in Japanese, OKUJIRASAMA depicting behind the scenes of the film’s production and the in-depth historical and religious background information of the whaling controversy that won the Science Journalist Award in 2018.
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Documentary HITLER’S HOLLYWOOD on German Film Industry Under Third Reich Gets DVD Release [Trailer]
Hitler’s Hollywood is a new documentary directed by Rüdiger Suchsland and narrated by Udo Kier, that traces the rise and fall of Nazi Germany through its national cinema of 1933-1945, illustrated with clips from the many big spectacles, colorful fantasies and lavish costume films that Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels conceived of to rival Hollywood.
An Official Selection of the Telluride Film Festival, this critically-acclaimed film opened at New York’s Film Forum earlier this year before moving on to engagements in national markets including Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta.
Kino Lorber will release Hitler’s Hollywood on DVD on July 10.
Hitler’s Hollywood, narrated by Udo Kier, asks what the Nazi cinema of the Third Reich reveals about its period and its people. About 1000 feature films were made in Germany in the years between 1933-1945: musicals, melodramas, romances, costume dramas and war films. Only a few were overtly Nazi propaganda films. But by the same token, even fewer of them can be considered harmless entertainment.
How did the open lies and hidden truths in these films affect the future of German cinema? Director Rüdiger Suchsland (From Caligari to Hitler) presents these films and the people behind them. It explains how propaganda works: how stereotypes of the “enemy” and values of love and hate managed to be planted into viewers’ heads through the screen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVeFBjVcglU
Hitler’s Hollywood is Suchsland’s follow-up to his 2014 film From Caligari to Hitler, a documentary adaptation of Siegfried Kracauer’s ground-breaking 1947 psychological study of silent German cinema that argues the rise of Nazism was anticipated in many of the films from that period.
Kino Lorber also recently released Forbidden Films: The Hidden Legacy of Nazi Film on DVD. This documentary by Felix Moeller examines those films made in Nazi Germany that were conceived and presented explicitly as propaganda, and explores questions of whether they should be shown for the purposes of study, or locked away for their dangerous (and powerful) ideological messages.
Together, these three documentaries present a comprehensive view of the cinema in Germany just before and during the Third Reich, posing challenging questions about cinema as an indicator of larger historical currents, the power of film as propaganda, and how even seemingly harmless entertainment films can be used to convey dangerous ideology.
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Bradford Baruh’s ‘Wild and Blood-Soaked’ DEAD NIGHT Drops Official Trailer + Poster
Bradford Baruh’s directorial debut, Dead Night with genre icon Barbara Crampton as lead actress and producer, today released the official trailer and poster. Dark Sky Films will release Dead Night starring Brea Grant, AJ Bowen, Sophie Dalah, Elise Luthman, Joshua Hoffman, and Daniel Roebuck in theaters and digital/VOD on July 27, 2018.
James and his wife Casey load up their two teenage kids and head out to a remote cabin in Oregon for a weekend trip. When James heads into the snowy forest in search of firewood, he encounters an enigmatic woman passed out in the snow. Bringing her back to the cabin for help, the family has no way of knowing that the woman’s presence is the catalyst for a series of events that will change their lives forever.
Mixing original storytelling with timeless supernatural elements, Bradford Baruh’s directorial debut features a stellar cast of genre favorites including AJ Bowen and Barbara Crampton and delivers a wild and blood-soaked weekend away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyKyboTBsU4
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Baby Mamas, The Tale, Rafiki Among Durban International Film Festival 2018 Program Lineup
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Baby Mamas[/caption]
This year’s 2018 Durban International Film Festival will offer a focused fare of 180 features films, documentaries, and shorts, along with an insightful industry program that includes Isisphethu for emerging and micro-budget filmmakers, the 11th Talents Durban, in partnership with Berlinale Talents, for pre-selected, semi-established filmmakers as well as the co-production and finance forum the 9th Durban FilmMart, the festival’s partner program with the Durban Film Office.
Opening the festival is the first feature film from South African director Jerome Pikwane, the horror flick The Tokoloshe. The LGTBI love-story Rafiki, directed by Kenyan Wanuri Kahiu, will close the festival.
Manager of DIFF Chipo Zhou, explains the choice of these two diverse films that have women as their focus. “We wanted to book-end DIFF with films that tell stories about women, their strength and their resilience. We also want to showcase the fact that there are many ways to tell these stories from a cinematic point of view,” said Zhou.
“We are in a time of diversity, where women, racial minorities and LGBTI communities who have traditionally been underrepresented in film are having their voices brought to the fore,” says Zhou. “Referencing this global narrative, the films in this year’s festival will reflect these new voices as much as possible.”
Among the features in competition this year are South African films Farewell Ella Bella directed by Lwazi Mvusi, which follows a young woman on a journey to bury her father; High Fantasy directed by Jenna Bass, in which a group of young South Africans have to navigate a personal-political labyrinth when they wake up to discover they have swapped bodies; Sara Blecher’s Mayfair, a gangster film about a father and son; and The Recce by Ferdinand van Zyl, which explores the pain and suffering families endured during and after South Africa’s 20-year border war.
International features in competition include The Tale (USA) directed by Jennifer Fox, which chronicles one woman’s powerful investigation into her own childhood memories as she is forced to re-examine her first sexual experience; Clint (India) by Hari Kumar, which tells the story of prodigious artist child who died before his seventh birthday, leaving behind 25000 pictures; and the closing film Rafiki (Kenya), directed by Wanuri Kahiu, which is set in Nairobi and tells the touching tale of two very different girls who fall in love.
Competition titles in the documentary section include the South African film Silas, a global tale directed by Anjali Nayar and Hawa Essuman which warns of the power of politics and celebrates the capacity of individuals to fight back, and Whispering Truth to Power, directed by human rights lawyer Shameela Seedat, which tracks Thuli Madonsela, South Africa’s first female Public Protector, as she builds her second case against President Jacob Zuma.
International documentaries in competition include New Moon (Kenya), directed by Phillippa Ndisi-Herrmann, who explores her journey to Sufi Islam; Amal (Lebanon, Egypt, France, Germany, Norway, Denmark), directed by Mohamed Siam, which follows a teenager as she comes to terms with her identity and sexuality in a post-revolutionary police state; Shakedown (USA) directed by Leilah Weinraub, which chronicles explicit performances in an underground queer club in Los Angeles; and The State Against Nelson Mandela and the Others (France) by Nicolas Champeaux and Gilles Porte, which offers archival recordings that include Mandela’s co-accused at the Rivonia Treason Trial hearings, and which transports the audience back into the courtroom battles.
Other South African films on the billing include Durban filmmaker Michael Cross’ award-winning The Fun’s Not Over, about the life of musician James Philips, and Eubulus Timothy’s warm, coming-of-age surf love story Deepend. Sisters of the Wilderness is Karin Slater’s inspiring film which is set in the iMfolozi Wilderness and follows five young Zulu women on a journey of self-discovery. Then there is Oscar-nominated director Darrel Roodt’s horror Siembamba, Stephina Zwane’s comedy Baby Mamas, which revolves around the daily lives and loves of four women and their own real-life baby mama drama, Leli Maki’s comedy Table Manners, in which a wife and mother finds solace and hope in cooking, learning that all she needs is life’s three courses – family, food and love.
Prior to each screening, public service announcements will be shown. These are themed around an industry campaign #thatsnotok created by SWIFT (Sisters Working in Film and Television), the SA-based non-profit that works to protect and advance the cause of women in the industry.
In 2018 DIFF continues its endeavours to grow cinema audiences and this year free community-based screenings will take place at Solomon Mahlangu Hall (New Germany/Clermont), KwaMashu Fan Park, Umlazi W Section Library and The Workshop Amphitheatre. Other screenings take place at Community ZA (formerly Artspace Gallery in Umgeni) and KZNSA Gallery, Musgrave Ster Kinekor, Suncoast Cine Centre and Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, as well as Ushaka Marine World, where the popular free ocean-focused film festival Wavescapeswill take place in the public area.
“With about 400 film-makers in attendance, the public can look forward to a feast of film and some fascinating insights into the world of cinema,” concludes Zhou.
The DIFF is organised by the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts in partnership with the eThekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, National Film and Video Foundation, Durban Film Office and other valuable partners.
DIFF opens at The Playhouse on July 19 and runs until July 29. The closing film will be screened on July 28, after the competition awards.
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Robert Paschall Jr.’s “24 Hour Film” SEGFAULT Eyes A Fall Release Date [Trailer]
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Segfault[/caption]
Segfault, the unique film, written and directed by Robert Paschall Jr. and starring Shannon Lucio is set to premiere in the fall in many major cities across North America, including Los Angeles, Toronto, Chicago, Dallas, Vancouver, and Houston via Factory Film Studio.
The Story: Without any memory of who she is or her past, Blair (Shannon Lucio) wakes up in a hotel room with a dead body. After receiving a mysterious phone call, she flees in search of answers and is immediately pursued by a corrupt organization that is determined to keep the truth of her identity concealed. With the help of Victoria (Cassie Shea Watson) and Frank (Stephen Brodie), Blair is confronted with a sequence of startling discoveries that exposes a reality she never could’ve imagined.
Factory Film Studio CCO, Michael Lilly, “This movie was made in less than 24 hours, with a lead actress who was given no script, storyline or even a character name. It’s not often that we see a movie that is as perceptive, innovative and suspenseful as this. We are excited to bring it to the North American audience.”
“We know Factory Film Studio knows perfectly well what kind of audiences are going to be intrigued by this film that was made in the spirit of absolute freedom,” said Paschall.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltzCbl3OYuE
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Greenwich Entertainment to Release Jeremy Workman’s Documentary THE WORLD BEFORE YOUR FEET
Jeremy Workman’s documentary The World Before Your Feet, which had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival, will release be released theatrically later this year by Greenwich Entertainment.
Executive produced by Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network, Café Society), this personal and moving documentary follows Matt Green, who for six years has walked every block of every street in New York City. This journey of over 8000 miles takes Green and the audience to each neighborhood in the five boroughs and reveals the humanity and wonder of the world’s greatest city.
Critics raved following the film’s SXSW premiere with The Hollywood Reporter’s John DeFore saying “a Gotham-set charmer about the pleasures of wandering,” RogerEbert.com’s Nick Allen declaring the film “lovely…inspired me to get outside and look around,” and The Playlist’s Gary Garrison calling it “an utterly compelling joy.”
“Jeremy has found in Matt Green, a kind of contemporary Thoreau, and in the process of documenting Matt’s quest has made one of the most poignant and inspiring city symphonies in documentary history,” according to Greenwich co-managing director Edward Arentz.
“Jesse and I are thrilled and honored that Greenwich Entertainment will be releasing The World Before Your Feet and helping audiences discover Matt’s unique journey,” said Workman. “With the passion that Edward and his team have for this film, we know this is the ideal partnership.
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EXCLUSIVE: Watch a Clip from Documentary MAYNARD, on Maynard Jackson Jr., First Black Mayor of Atlanta [Video]
Here is an exclusive clip from the new documentary MAYNARD on the remarkable story of the unparalleled success of Maynard Jackson Jr., who became first black Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia in 1973.
Directed by Academy Award nominee, Emmy winner and 4 time Peabody Award winner Sam Pollard (“Slavery by Another Name”, “Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me”, “Two Trains Runnin’”), MAYNARD which will be released by Virgil Films on iTunes and digital platforms and dvd retailers on Tuesday, July 3, 2018.
Maynard interviews include President Bill Clinton, Al Sharpton, Vernon Jordan, Ambassador Andrew Young, Rev. Joseph Lowery, Jesse Jackson, former Atlanta Mayor’s Sam Massell and Shirley Franklin, and current Mayor Kasim Reed to name a few.
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First Look – See New images from Patrick Cunningham’s Surreal Thriller MODEL HOME World Premiering at North Bend Film Festival
Patrick Cunningham has released new cryptic stills from his directorial debut, the surreal thriller Model Home, which will World Premiere at the inaugural North Bend Film Festival. Model Home follows a single mother suffering from bipolar disorder who begins to entertain dangerous fantasies while working as a live-in caretaker of an unsold Model Home.
The debut film from director/writer Patrick Cunningham transports us to a surreal world of barren promises where the American Dream becomes the American Nightmare. Following in the cinematic lineage of Kubrick’s The Shining Cunningham’s twisting tale of ostrasization was co-written and produced by William Day Frank (Mickey Keating’s Psychopaths and POD) and stars Monique Curnen (The Dark Knight, Taken the TV series), Emmy award winner Kathy Baker (Take Shelter, Age of Adaline), Luke Ganalon, and Jon Jon Briones (Miss Saigon on Broadway).
Model Home will have its World Premiere at the first edition of the North Bend Film Festival running from August 23rd to the 26th 2018 in North Bend, Washington. The North Bend FF is focused on vanguard programming and innovative means of storytelling and providing a platform for emerging filmmakers. Working directly with the town of North Bend, the destination festival will be an event for the local community, Northwest creatives, and national genre film industry to enjoy together.
Click to see images from Model Home
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3 IDIOTAS, Mexican Remake of Indian Comedy-Drama to Open Jagran Film Festival [Trailer]
3 Idiotas – a Mexican remake of multiple award winning Indian film, 3 Idiots will premiere in India as the opening night film of the 9th Jagran Film Festival (JFF). The heartfelt and relatable instances in the film has made it one of the highest grossing films in Mexico, in 2017.
Mexican actors Alfonso Dosal, Christian Vazquez, German Valdez and Martha Higareda play the roles of Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi, R. Madhavan and Kareena Kapoor respectively, from the Indian version. The plot, much like 3 Idiots, is a coming of age film revolving around a group of close friends who go on a humorous and memorable adventure in search of their close college friend that went missing five years ago, just a day before their graduation ceremony. It showcases the ups and downs in a friendship and the bond they forge while searching for their beloved friend.
This year, JFF received nearly 3500 submissions across genres from 100 countries. The curated program will showcase over 200 films. The competition segment will include International and Indian Features, Shorts, Indian Documentaries and Student Films. The non-competitive segment will include Thematic Specials, a Retrospective, Tributes, India Showcase, World Panorama and Hot Shorts.
The 2018 edition of the Jagran Film Festival that will connect 18 cities and showcase over 200 films will commence in Delhi and tour to other Indian cities like Kanpur, Lucknow, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Dehradun, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Bhopal, Indore, Gorakhpur, Agra, Ludhiana, Hissar, Meerut and Raipur before concluding in Mumbai in September.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqwR_28VjcA
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Watch Jaden Smith as a Mysterious Skateboarder in SKATE KITCHEN Trailer
Magnolia Pictures has released the official trailer for Skate Kitchen starring Jaden Smith as a mysterious skateboarder. The film that premiered earlier this year at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival is the first narrative feature from The Wolfpack director Crystal Moselle, and will be released in select theaters on August 10.
Camille, an introverted teenage skateboarder (newcomer Rachelle Vinberg) from Long Island, meets and befriends an all-girl, New York City-based skateboarding crew called Skate Kitchen. She falls in with the in-crowd, has a falling-out with her mother, and falls for a mysterious skateboarder guy (Jaden Smith), but a relationship with him proves to be trickier to navigate than a kickflip.
Writer/director Crystal Moselle immersed herself in the lives of the skater girls and worked closely with them, resulting in the film’s authenticity, which combines poetic, atmospheric filmmaking and hypnotic skating sequences. SKATE KITCHEN precisely captures the experience of women in male-dominated spaces and tells a story of a girl who learns the importance of camaraderie and self-discovery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT1izrIxoos
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Sam Voutas’ KING OF PEKING to Premiere on Netflix on July 2 [Trailer]
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KING OF PEKING[/caption]
Sam Voutas’ King of Peking, an Official Selection of the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, will premiere worldwide exclusively on Netflix on July 2, 2018.
SYNOPSIS: Big Wong and his young son Little Wong are part of a fading tradition: traveling film projectionists screening Hollywood movies for villagers who otherwise don’t have access to films. But when Big Wong’s ex-wife raises the spousal support payments, Big Wong faces the possibility of losing custody.
In order to stay together, the two Wongs move to the basement of an old Beijing cinema, where Big Wong works as a janitor. When Big Wong discovers a prototype DVD recorder for sale in a junk store, he convinces Little Wong to join a new venture: a father-son bootlegging company. He names it King of Peking in honor of their surname’s meaning: king. Business soon booms, but in the maelstrom of making money, Big Wong realizes that he might lose something more precious than custody: his son’s trust. And Little Wong learns that sometimes parents make bad choices for very good reasons.
In King of Peking, writer-director Sam Voutas (RED LIGHT REVOLUTION, SHANGHAI BRIDE) put his reverence for movies on full display. He crafts a beautiful story that is at once an endearing father-son story and a love letter to cinema. Starring Zhao Jun, Wang Naixun, Han Qing, Si Chao. Produced by Jane Zheng (Sundance 2018 hit DEAD PIGS) and Melanie Ansley.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcaYbx7U8Pw
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Stephy Tang to Receive Screen International Rising Star Asia Award at NY Asian Film Festival
Hong Kong’s Stephy Tang will receive the Screen International Rising Star Asia Award at the 17th New York Asian Film Festival (NYAF) on July 7th before a screening of her film The Empty Hands. Tang, a former volleyball star and model, started out in the entertainment business as the lead singer of the phenomenally popular girls’ band The Cookies before launching her successful solo career. In addition to concerts, albums and television appearances, she started her own fashion label and wrote a romance novel. In film, she is best known for her pairing with Alex Fong in a series of popular rom-coms directed by Patrick Kong from 2006-2015.
NYAFF is celebrating Tang for her recent shift in career direction, taking on a series of more challenging roles. In Cheung Wing-kai’s Somewhere Beyond the Mist, she plays a pregnant policewoman investigating a morbid murder case; in Chapman To’s The Empty Hands, she plays a young woman who reaches self-actualization by stepping back into the ring after the death of her estranged father, a karate master. She trained for six months for the latter role.
Tang recently told the South China Morning Post that she hopes The Empty Hands represents a new era of “more female-oriented films in Hong Kong”. She said, “In the last few years, I have been hoping that people would recognize me as an actress rather than as a singer. Of course I still do concerts but, in the past, I made movies as a singer, and now I hope I’m more an actress doing music. I’m determined to make this happen.”
Samuel Jamier, NYAFF’s executive director says, “At a time when Hong Kong cinema is reinventing itself and finding a new maturity, we’re excited to award an actress who has also reinvented herself. We believe that Stephy Tang has the talent, determination and charisma to become one of Hong Kong’s leading actors in the years to come.”
The previous recipients of the Screen International Rising Star Asia Award were Japan’s Fumi Nikaido in 2014; Japan’s Shota Sometani in 2015; Japan’s Go Ayano, China’s Jelly Lin, and the Philippines’ Teri Malvar in 2016; and Thailand’s Chutimon “Aokbab” Chuengcharoensukying in 2017.